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Penn State Football lands commitment from elite 2025 recruit

By Alec Whitaker

Toms River North sophomore Jaelyne Matthews is one of the top offensive line recruits in the nation. Toms River, NJFriday, July 1, 2022Jaelyne Matthews 1
Toms River North sophomore Jaelyne Matthews is one of the top offensive line recruits in the nation. Toms River, NJFriday, July 1, 2022Jaelyne Matthews 1 /
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Penn State Football has been focusing on the 2024 recruiting class, but it was a 2025 recruit making headlines on Monday morning. 

Penn State Football received its first 2025 commit on Monday morning with 4-star OT Jaelyne Matthews making the call for the Nittany Lions.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, Matthews has the makings of a future star at the tackle position considering he is just a sophomore in high school and already has that kind of size.

Matthews, who is from Toms River, NJ, is rated as the No. 5 offensive tackle in the 2025 cycle and No. 60 recruit overall. His offer sheet backs up his ranking as he also had offers from Miami, Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

While it may seem a bit premature for a 2025 recruit to commit, keep in mind that 4-star OL Cooper Cousins became the first member of the 2024 class almost exactly a year ago to the day. Cousins committed to Penn State Football on Jan. 29, 2022. Instead of being a flip concern, Cousins has been viewed as a strong leader of the class, the hope is Matthews will do the same in 2025.

The first commit in Penn State’s last three recruiting classes has now been a highly rated offensive lineman. Alex Birchmeier was the first commit in the 2023 class, the aforementioned Cousins in the 2024 class and now Matthews in the 2025 cycle. Birchmeier and Cousins are leaders of their respective classes, the same expectation should be there for Matthews.

Getting back into the state of New Jersey was critical for the Nittany Lions. They had not signed a recruit from the Garden State since Amin Vanover back in the 2020 cycle. With offensive line coach Phil Trautwein being from New Jersey, and the improvements his group made this past season, you can see why Matthews would have a strong connection with Trautwein.

Penn State Football certainly has plenty of recruiting momentum coming off of a Rose Bowl win. The Nittany Lions would like to carry that momentum into a successful 2023 season.

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